Todd Bentley Update - Another Lakeland "Revival"?

By Chadwick Harvey

Shortly after the Lakeland Outpouring ended in utter chaos a year and a half ago, I stated in a note that Morningstar Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina would most likely be the next hub of which a "revival" would spring forth. This statement was not some sort of a magnificent prophetic prognostication. Rather, it was more of a well-educated guess based on knowledge I had involving Rick Joyner's desire to create such a move in the Charlotte area.

For the past three months, Morningstar Ministries has been holding "outpouring services" every weekend. In his most recent video, founder and Pastor of Morningstar Ministries Rick Joyner invites people to make reservations for a weekend at Morningstar so that they can experience the wave of the Spirit that is crashing in there. In this video, Joyner specifically states, "Todd Bentley has a gift of faith that is like few I have ever seen or heard of before." Now, a little over a year after divorcing his wife one day and marrying his mistress whom he had the extramarital affair with the next, Todd Bentley is back ministering to the masses that flock to Morningstar seeking an encounter with God albeit in the wrong place.

Has it ever occurred to these people that perhaps their seeking of an encounter with God has led them to miss out on the encounter that God is seeking with them? An encounter that calls them above and beyond the self-serving religious practices that they follow as they flock to the latest spine-tingling sensation. Yet as God knocks at the doors of their hearts, he finds that they are not answering as they have been beguiled by the great serpent, as this ploy of Satan has once again taken people's attention away from advancing the kingdom of God through the practical application of the Word in their everyday lives and thus led them to seek for a quick fix so that they can have an easy ticket (with low cost) to the feeling of spirituality that they so long for.

As for the question of "Why Morningstar?" I could elaborate further as to why Rick Joyner wanted to bring revival to the Charlotte area. However, such information is covered in previous articles I have written on this very topic and about the prophetic movement's intent on creating a carbon copy of the ministry of William Branham who they might as well be worshipping.

In the articles I have written on this subject, it seems as if there is always someone who goes on the attack against me. It's as if they want me to put away my own spirit of "criticism" yet they take liberty at criticizing my faith and labeling me as nothing more than a muckraker. If I am nothing more than a muckraker, then Paul must have been one as well. The call of the Christian faith in the midst of great conflict, persecution, and strife. Paul experienced this far more than anyone could have ever imagined when he wrote his epistles. If it were not for false teachers creeping into the church in those days, then half of Paul's epistles would have never been written. Indeed, Paul wasn't the only one that contended for truth unceasingly. James, Peter, Jude, and John all wrote with the intent of alerting their followers not to be deceived by the vast array of false teachers that were seeking to pervert the true meaning of the gospel in the same way that false teachers like Todd Bentley and Rick Joyner are doing so today. Jude's epistle which deals with nothing but false teachers poignantly warns all Christians "to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints."

When Todd Bentley's circus show was in Lakeland, it was the responsibility of the people close by to issue very firm warnings to keep geniune Christians from being preyed upon by this wolf in sheep's clothing. Praise God that some Christians stood up to that calling and exposed the man as the false prophet that he is. Unfortunately, there were many Christian leaders who dropped the ball. I for once was extremely disappointed that the Assemblies of God gave a generic statement rather than taking a firm hard-nosed approach to ensure that their flock was protected.

Now that the movement has migrated to the Charlotte area, the time has come for all Christians in the vicinity to string together the bonds of unity in order to combat this ploy of Satan. With the movement so close and the fact that so many young people from teenage years to upper 30's are flocking to these pagan-style cultlike meetings from a host of mainline demoninational churches, to sit back in utter complacency and not take a stand would be the kind of serious sin that I would not the burden of carrying to my grave.

For now, the meetings at Morningstar are only going for three nights a week. They have not yet generated the kind of attention that the Lakeland Outpouring did in 2008. However, with the belief that Todd Bentley has been assigned the same angel as William Branham- we can conclude that it's only a matter of time before the movement elevates itself to such heights. Better to prepare now by warning of the baneful effects of this movement and exposing once for all the legions of Satan behind the ministry not only of Todd Bentley but of the prophetic movement as whole. This includes Morningstar ministries, Patricia King's Extreme Prophetic, and the International House of Prayer Movement all of which though separate entities are united together in the common thread of bringing the Manifest Sons of God to the earth. For further info and for questions, please ask and I will be happy to tell.